Verizon

This weeks is a Windows Phone and selfie week. Just a while ago, we saw Samsung unveil the selfie-friendly mid-range Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7, both with front LED flash. Also this week, we saw the Microsoft Lumia 640 and the 640 XL appear in Cricket and AT&T, respectively. Bringing those two worlds together for a weekend climax is the Microsoft Lumia 735, which has finally appeared on Verizon's shelves. XLTE-ready, this budget Windows Phone is more than just smiles, with HD Voice Calling tagging along for the ride.

Carriers are being held up to government scrutiny this week. Just days after AT&T was fined by the FCC for throttling data, it's Verizon's turn to be on the hot seat, this time with the New York City government breathing down its neck. The office of Mayor Bill de Blaiso says that Verizon has greatly failed to deliver on its promise back in 2008 to put high-speed fiber-optic connections throughout the city, under its FiOS service. Naturally, Verizon denies the allegation and even hints that this audit might have ulterior motives.

LG has just fired the gun, signaling the widespread availability of its flagship in the US. Given the LG G4's rather high profile marketing, especially for its camera, and its admittedly enticing spec sheet, it might not be surprising to see quite a few interested buyers. Luckily for them, all major US carriers and even retailers like Best Buy and Amazon are game. Actually the number of sources and choices might be a bit overwhelming, so here we condense it into a few salient points on where to get your leather-back LG G4 and for how much.

NASA and Verizon are working together on air traffic control for drones, aiming to use existing cellphone towers to track and even ground unmanned aircraft. The deal will see the space agency kick off trials at its Ames Research Center in California this summer, focusing on small, low-altitude drones which currently don't make it onto the radar of traditional air traffic management. The goal is an automated system which would open the skies to drone delivery, something which already has Amazon and Google throwing their money at NASA.

Anyone who has worked in education since mobile phones and smartphones have become so common knows that it is very hard to keep students off the devices during class. Students have become very adept at using devices without teacher knowledge. A teacher at a high school in Pasco County Florida has found himself in hot water with the district and parents after taking matters into his own hands to stop smartphone use in class.

The ball has started rolling for the LG G4's launch in the US, and, unsurprisingly, Verizon Wireless is one of the first on the scene. The carrier has just announced that starting May 28, with a shipping schedule that starts before June 4, when the smartphone will land in Verizon stores. Available from its newly revamped Edge program, Verizon is also throwing in some discount deals when you buy an LG G4, including an LG Watch Urbane or an LG G Pad X8.3, which also launches on May 28.

Likely candidates for the whole 2015 Motorola DROID collection appear in a number of leaked documents. These devices will work with Verizon only inside the United States, appearing with code-name Clark for both models XT1578 and XT1097 and code-name Kinzie for model XT1585. These devices will be working with exceedingly sharp displays, one coming in at a DPI (dots per inch) value of 560, the other coming in with 640 DPI. Both devices will - obviously - be coming with Android 5.1.1 Lollipop as well, with Motorola's very small amount of changes on top.

If you want a smartphone nowadays but you don’t want to pay the full amount for it, you’ve got an extra option on top of the traditional contracts (though in some places those contracts are becoming harder to get). They involves making monthly payments for the smartphone over a specific timeframe, such as 24 months, allowing the subscriber to pay off the phone in small chucks monthly. The big-name carriers offer such features, including Verizon which hawks the option as “Verizon Edge”.

Verizon and Sprint have settled with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over a series of unauthorized customer charges. The government probe alleged that Sprint and Verizon charged customers subscription fees for third-party services such as horoscope, or daily humor services. Although the lawsuits have only just now been settled, the companies were asked to halt their dubious "premium short message services" back in late 2013. The unauthorized subscriptions were about $9.99 per month, and Sprint and Verizon typically took a forty percent cut from each "crammed" charge.

Here’s one we didn’t see coming: Verizon has agreed to purchase AOL. The deal, worth $4.4 billion in cash, gives Verizon something they’ve been wanting for some time — an instantly powerful ad network. AOL’s most recent earnings highlight that; 7% year-over-year growth in revenue, all on the back of third party ad sales, which grew 19% versus last year. As the AOL we knew shrinks from us (you can no longer use it for Apple sign-ins, for instance), the ad network kept them relevant enough for an acquisition.

While Uber is busy battling away in some places and leaving others, its biggest competitor Lyft is slowly expanding its own presence, and part of that expansion is hinged on drawing in drivers and riders...and then keeping them. The company has announced its latest incentive in that regards, a partnership with Verizon Wireless that gets part of drivers' mobile bills reduced. Perhaps more import, however, is that under this partnership Verizon will start selling some Android handsets with the Lyft app pre-installed, getting it directly into the hands of potential riders.

Last month, we gave you a sneak peek at what little we knew about Verizon's newest LG Windows Phone. Now, we know a lot more. LG's new Windows Phone is called the Lancet. It's LG's first foray into Windows Phone territory from LG's usual fare of Android devices. It's nothing too fancy, but it could be a solid choice for those in the market for a Windows Phone.